Entries in Marketing
(5)

There are very few trailblazers, those willing to risk spending more for the sake of being good stewards without the assurance of positive ROI. These are the people who truly believe in doing the right thing. Our capitalistic society has rewarded cutting corners for the sake of higher profit margins. Sustainability has long been a buzz word that many people didn't even really understanding. This left most to think, "Why should we care unless we know our consumers care?" But, the tides are turning, people are starting to pay close attention in large numbers. Large enough numbers that big brands are taking notice, as they see their market share going to trailblazers. Consumer habits are changing. People are looking for better products and to support better companies. But how do they know what's good?

Social Media? Labels?

It's all marketing these days. Marketing today is very different from marketing of the past. Customer experience, plays a big role. It's a two way street, you set the vision, you deliver, and then consumers take over carrying your brand all over the world (a.k.a. World Wide Web).

People want to feel good about the products they buy, so sustainability matters!

I'm glad to finally see companies like Walmart and McDonalds taking action to move towards greater sustainablity, even if they are small steps. It's about time everyone gets on board.

Whelan says marketers ignore sustainability at their own peril. A typical argument made by marketing professionals is that surveys show that only around 10 percent to 15 percent of consumers actively seek out sustainable products. Instead, Whelan writes that marketers’ job is to make consumers want a product they think they don’t — and sustainability should not be any different.

There is always a risk when trying a new strategy, and using sustainability as a marketing tool carries these risks. Whelan says it’s unusual for companies to lose market share by embracing sustainability and points to McDonalds and UK tea brand PG Tips increasing their sales after using sustainable products.

Furthermore, despite its often dry subject matter, there is no need for sustainability as a subject to be boring, too complicated or expensive, Whelan writes. The article uses the example of the “Follow the Frog” viral video (pictured) produced to promote Rainforest Alliance-certified products. The video reached 1.2 million people and won a TED award.

A study published in June found that so-called meaningful brands outperformed the stock market by 120 percent. Havas Media Group researchers defined the most meaningful brands as those that systematically improve personal and collective well-being of consumers and are rewarded by stronger brand equity and attachment.

The 12 measures of well-being considered include the environment and a “natural” measure. Exactly how much of that good feeling comes from a brand’s environmental performance, Havas didn’t say – though it did note that people in emerging markets place relatively more importance on environmental impacts.

Walmart launched its Epic Green Warriors campaign — each product, such as Glad compostable trash bags and Brita water bottles and filters, has an Epic Warrior sticker — at 2,800 stores to help boost pre-orders for the kids movie, which will become available on DVD and Blu-ray Aug. 20, according to Variety.

These "nationally and internationally" recognized and respected "Elites,"are well known for their expertise and best practices in the areas of Marketing, Branding, Sales, PR, Talent Acquisition and Customer service.

As you likely know, blendtec is responsible for one of the best viral campaigns seen so far. With the question "Will it blend?" and it's host Tom Dickson, the brand achieved 6 million views just after 5 days it had published the first video on YouTube. As their videos grew in popularity, Blendtec found their online sales grew by 500%.This happened back in 2006 and today Blendtec shows us how to grab a great opportunity and turn it into more then 31,000 views on YouTube in one single day. They didn't do anything unusual than blending a product till it become goop or dust. But here comes the difference: the "it" in this case is called by iPad, the most commented product recently released by Apple. We don't need to go over the effectiveness or impact of the campaign, because for sure it is great. And all the results are with no doubt based on Blendtec's ability to see a good opportunity. Blending the iPad is not simply blend a trendy tech gadget, it is in fact blending the most searched key word on the internet. Like this, people searching for iPad, will probably have on their results the blender video. It's like an invisible virtual association, as companies are helping other companies on raising the access to their website, videos or other internet materials. It's really incredible to see how fast Blendtec learned about web 2.0 and it's advantages. Way to go Mr. Tom!

Top 10 reasons to blog professionally....#10 - It's a Social Experiment - Businesses with time and money should contribute.#9 - It's a great way to archive/index your email newsletters and press releases.#8 - It's by far the greatest way to work in all those key words you been trying to jam into your web pages.#7 - You might actually help someone before they become your customer.#6 - Done correctly it's a great SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tool.#5 - Draw customers to you by being helpful and informative - creating interest and desire in your product/service.#4 - What better place to store all those great customer referrals and stories.#3 - Name recognition.#2 - Providing fresh and relevant content for clients and prospects is a great reason for them to revisit your site.#1 - You can't afford not to. ﻿

I've had several people ask me about the purpose of using LinkedIn. There are so many reasons to use LinkedIn. Here is just a bit of insight into who and how...Who should use it?As I see it: job seekers (both active and passive), recruiters, and anyone looking to network.This covers nearly all business professionals. Aren't we all looking for that next big opportunity?

How do you use it?First, sign up and complete your profile with accurate informationThe more complete your profile the easier it will be for others to find you, plus when you initiate a conversation with someone, the first thing they will do is check your profile.